Rio+20: Concrete Goals the Only Recipe for Success

Goals drive action, and that's why establishing a set of Sustainable Development Goals is so important to put the world on a sustainable pathway, experts said Saturday under the tropical fig and palm forest that covers much of the ground at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.

Obama Wins Cautious Praise for Ending Deportation of Minors

President Barack Obama's administration announced on Friday that the United States would no longer deport certain young immigrants.

Earth’s Future Not for Sale, Activists Say

Just ahead of the start of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), many are worried about the influence that corporations will have on the summit's agenda.

Nepal’s Female Farmers Fear Climate Change

When Arati Chaudhary’s husband left for India to find work as a migrant labourer, the job of managing farm and family fell on her slender shoulders.

Blood Flows in Solidarity in Argentina

Voluntary blood donations have risen markedly in the year ending Thursday Jun. 14 in Argentina, which hosted the World Blood Donor Day event for 2011. South Korea takes over for the coming year.

Activists Aren’t Mourning Obama’s Absence at Rio Summit

When a reluctant George H.W. Bush, Sr., then U.S. president, changed his mind and decided at the eleventh hour to address the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, he sounded defensive in his strong response to charges that the United States was one of the major powers responsible for the some of the world's worst environmental ills - from greenhouse gases to conspicuous consumption.

Q&A: Battle for Human Rights in Rio Is “Far From Over”

Human rights should be explicitly recognised as an indispensable ingredient of sustainable development at the Rio+20 summit in Brazil, says Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Q&A: Women Must Be at the Forefront of Rio+20, and Beyond

Unlocking women's energies and allowing them to become drivers of change could fuel the motor of sustainable development.

Communal Violence Threatens Democratic Change in Myanmar

The outbreak over the past week of communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine State seriously threatens the ongoing reform process in Myanmar, according to experts here.

Defining Green Economy May Stymie Rio Summit

The thematic battle at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Brazil next week will be primarily around the new concept of a "green economy" - and how best to define it.

Q&A: “We All Have to Start Being City Changers”

Building the cities of the future requires not only smarter planning but a profound shift toward greater equity and social justice, says Joan Clos, executive director of the U.N. Human Settlements Programme, or UN-HABITAT.

Health Warnings Loud and Clear on Cigarettes in Argentina

This month, Argentina will join the growing list of Latin American countries that compel tobacco companies to display health warnings about the dangers of smoking on cigarette packs, illustrated with graphic images.

Will Water Dry Up at Summit on Sustainable Development?

The headline in a New York newspaper last March captured the essence of a future potential threat to political stability the world over: "U.S. Report Sees Tensions Over Water."

Calls for an African Green Revolution, Only Smarter

To deal with looming food crises in the coming decades, Africa needs a Green Revolution on par with what took place in Asia during the 1960s and 1970s, according to experts in Washington.

Rural Zambia’s Drinking Supply Fraught with Danger and Disease

Bupe Bana-Victor has lived in the Mwense district of Luapula Province in northern Zambia all her life. And for her, water talk is synonymous with the Luapula River, which lies just 20 metres from her village and snakes through the entire region before it joins the Lualaba River – a tributary of the mighty Congo, Africa’s second-largest river.

RIO+20: A Stalemated U.N. in Do-or-Die Session on Action Plan

After weeklong negotiations, a meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) to finalise a plan of action titled "The Future We Want" for next week's Rio+20 summit has failed to reach agreement - and deferred a decision to a final three-day session in Brazil.

24 Policies to End the Earth Emergency

Ecologically ignorant policies are largely responsible for the interlinked crises that are unraveling the planet's life support system.

Money Still “Buys” You Gold at the Olympics

The Olympic Games are widely viewed as a chance for countries to showcase their fastest, strongest, most skilled and disciplined athletes, a time when political, economic and cultural differences are set aside and individuals are judged on personal merit alone.

RIO+20: Earth Summit Negotiated the Size of the Zero

Amidst much political fanfare, the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro concluded with the adoption of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and the landmark Agenda 21 blueprint for a sustainable future in the 21st century.

Brazilian Street Stars Dance and Shine in Spain

Arrayed in colourful garments they have made themselves, six teenagers who used to be street kids in Fortaleza, in northeast Brazil, visited this southern Spanish city to recount their life experiences and awaken solidarity.

Family Planning and Subsistence Agriculture Key to Food Security

Papua New Guinea’s high fertility rate is exerting pressure on land and food production in a country where 80 percent of the population lives in rural communities. But the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) argues that traditions of subsistence agriculture provide a firm foundation to build food security for a growing population.